Free tool · exemption check
Pick your qualification to see which ACCA exams you skip and what it costs.
The short version
Quick answer: ACCA lets you skip up to 9 of its 13 exams. A completed B.Com skips 5, an M.Com 4, an MBA 3 and a BBA 1. A qualified CA or an ICMAI fellow skips all 9. Each exemption costs £84 or £111.
Guide
How ACCA exemptions work
Only the first two levels. ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has 13 exams in three levels. Exemptions cover the first nine at most. Nobody is exempt from Strategic Professional.
BT, MA, FA and LW are on-demand computer exams you book at a licensed centre. The rest sit in ACCA’s March, June, September and December sessions. Live dates: ACCA exam dates.
It depends on what you studied. ACCA matches your old subjects to its own exams, like a college accepting marks you already earned. The table shows ACCA’s general India rules. If ACCA has assessed your exact course, that entry decides instead.
| Your qualification | ACCA exams you skip | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Class 12 | None | 0 |
| B.Com (completed, Indian university) | BT, MA, FA, LW, TX | 5 |
| M.Com | BT, MA, FA, LW | 4 |
| Accounting degree (BAF, B.Acc) | BT, MA, FA, LW | 4 |
| Finance degree (BFM, BBI, BBA Finance) | BT, MA, FA | 3 |
| MBA | BT, MA, FA | 3 |
| BBA, BMS or economics degree | BT | 1 |
| Law degree (LLB, BA LLB) | LW | 1 |
| B.Sc, BA or B.Tech in other subjects | None | 0 |
| CA IPCC / Intermediate, old scheme, both groups | BT, MA, FA, TX, AA | 5 |
| CMA (ICMAI) final passed, or associate under 5 years | BT, MA, FA, LW, TX, FR, FM | 7 |
| CMA (ICMAI) fellow, or associate with 5+ years’ experience | All 9 | 9 |
| CA qualified (ICAI member since May 2003) | All 9 | 9 |
In short: commerce and accounting degrees skip 3 to 5 exams. A qualified CA or a senior CMA skips all 9.
More than one qualification? ACCA checks each one, so you get every exam any of them covers. IPCC plus a B.Com covers BT, MA, FA, LW, TX and AA: 6 exemptions.
ACCA looks at each ICAI paper on its own. A paper counts with 40 or more marks, even if you did not clear the group. BT comes only with full CA qualification. This rule covers ICAI’s new scheme, first sat in May 2024.
| ACCA exam | ICAI paper(s) you need, 40+ marks each |
|---|---|
| MA | CA Inter Paper 4: Cost and Management Accounting |
| PM | CA Inter Paper 4: Cost and Management Accounting |
| FA | CA Foundation Paper 1: Accounting + CA Inter Paper 1: Advanced Accounting |
| LW | CA Foundation Paper 2: Business Laws + CA Inter Paper 2: Corporate and Other Laws |
| TX | CA Inter Paper 3: Taxation |
| AA | CA Inter Paper 5: Auditing and Ethics |
| FR | CA Final Paper 1: Financial Reporting |
| FM | CA Final Paper 2: Advanced Financial Management |
| BT | Full CA qualification only |
In short: 40+ in Inter Taxation, Cost and Management Accounting, and Auditing already skips MA, PM, TX and AA.
Intermediate Paper 6 (Financial Management and Strategic Management) has no match in ACCA’s ICAI entry. On the old scheme, both IPCC groups give BT, MA, FA, TX and AA. Old CA Final papers with 40+ marks can add FR, FM, LW and PM.
ACCA charges one fee per exemption: £84 per Applied Knowledge exam and £111 per Applied Skills exam (India price list, checked October 2026). It invoices you once it has checked your documents. ₹ figures are illustrative.
| Level | Exams | Fee each | ≈ ₹ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applied Knowledge | BT, MA, FA | £84 | ₹10,638 |
| Applied Skills | LW, PM, TX, FR, AA, FM | £111 | ₹14,057 |
| Strategic Professional | SBL, SBR, Options | None | – |
In short: every exemption saves you an exam, but it still has a fee, so add it to your ACCA budget.
Example (illustrative): a B.Com graduate gets 5 exemptions: £252 plus £222, so £474. That is about ₹60,027 at £1 = ₹126.64 (ECB rate, crossed via EUR, 16 Oct 2026). Your bank adds its own markup.
Changed your mind? Tell ACCA within 14 days for a refund. After that, the fee is non-refundable. Full budget: ACCA cost in India.
Sometimes. If ACCA has assessed your exact course, it gives conditional exemptions while you study, up to Financial Management (FM). They become final when you send proof that you graduated.
As of October 2026, ACCA’s calculator lists conditional B.Com exemptions (BT, MA, FA, LW and TX) for the University of Delhi and the University of Mumbai, among others. Part-finished degrees can also earn some: two years of a three-year accounting degree gives BT, MA, FA and LW.
The current Applied Skills and Strategic Professional exams have their last sitting in June 2027. New on-demand Foundations and Knowledge exams open in July 2027, and new Expertise and Strategic Professional exams first sit in September 2027. ACCA says you keep credit for exams passed or exempted.
That is why the plan stops at June 2027. For the whole journey, try the ACCA course duration calculator.
FAQs
No. It is a free QuintEdge tool built from ACCA’s India rules, checked against ACCA’s official Exemptions Calculator in October 2026. ACCA makes the final decision after it checks your certificates and transcripts, so confirm your result in ACCA’s own calculator before you pay any fees.
Five. ACCA’s India rule for a completed B.Com gives exemptions from BT, MA, FA, LW and TX. That leaves 8 exams: PM, FR, AA and FM at Applied Skills, then the 4 Strategic Professional exams. If ACCA has assessed your exact university course, its own entry can differ.
Yes. A qualified CA (ICAI member) gets all 9 Applied Knowledge and Applied Skills exemptions and starts at Strategic Professional. ACCA’s entry for CAs who qualified before May 2003 lists 8, without FR. CA students can also get exemptions paper by paper, with 40 or more marks in the matching ICAI paper.
Sometimes. If ACCA has assessed your exact course, it can give conditional exemptions while you study, up to Financial Management (FM). They become final when you send proof that you graduated. ACCA’s India rules also give some exemptions for part-finished degrees.
Yes. ACCA charges a fee for each exemption it awards, with a lower fee for Applied Knowledge exams than for Applied Skills exams. ACCA sends an invoice once it awards them. If you decide not to keep an exemption, tell ACCA within 14 days to get a refund.
Nine: the 3 Applied Knowledge and 6 Applied Skills exams. ACCA gives no exemptions at Strategic Professional, so everyone sits Strategic Business Leader, Strategic Business Reporting and the Options exams.
No. This calculator covers Indian qualifications only. ACCA’s rules for Pakistan, the UAE and other countries are different, so use ACCA’s official calculator and pick your country and institution there.
Not ACCA’s official tool. ACCA confirms exemptions and fees after checking your certificates and transcripts. Indian qualifications only; rules for Pakistan, the UAE and other countries differ. ₹ figures are illustrative at the ECB reference rate, crossed via EUR, on 16 Oct 2026. ACCA® is a registered trademark of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
